First Read: Senate Republicans Call on House to Pass Payroll Tax Cut Extension

Today, Senators Lugar and Brown called on the House GOP leadership to do what’s best for the country and pass the bipartisan Senate bill to extend middle class tax cuts, which 39 Senate Republicans supported.

“At least two Senate Republicans today are calling on their House counterparts to pass the temporary payroll-tax-cut extension, a measure that passed the Senate 89-10, but conservatives in the House and Speaker John Boehner have said they reject.”

“Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) called on Boehner and House Republicans to pass it tonight.”

“‘He's obviously under a lot of pressure,’ Lugar told NBC's Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports. ‘I’m hopeful that … they will proceed," he added, going on to call it “best for the country.’”

“Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown, who, like Lugar, is running for re-election in 2012, called House Republicans ‘irresponsible and wrong’ for planning to vote down the Senate's two-month payroll-tax-cut extension.”

We agree. It’s time for House Republicans to drop their opposition and work with Democrats to avoid a tax hike on middle class families.